Category: Cycling

Close call

There’s a first time for everything right? How about almost nailing a deer, while driving 35 mph on a tandem bicycle…

On a seemingly harmless recovery ride around Lake Sammamish this morning, we encountered two deer at the side of Eastlake Sammamish Parkway. I didn’t see them until Nick was hard on the brakes. I peeled my head off his back in time to see 125 pounds of fur lose its footing on the smooth asphalt about 20 yards in front of us. I closed my eyes and did my best to relax in case Nick needed to take evasive action. Fortunately, there were no cars around at the time, and the deer regained its footing in time to scamper across the road, out of our way.

I caught the look of fear in its eyes as we passed by. It would be hard to say who was more frightened by the experience. Likewise, I will not hazard a guess at who would have fared worse had we actually collided.

FS: Cypress Giant LE bicycle - SOLD!

Update: This bike has been sold.

Did you resolve to exercise more in 2008? Why not ride a bike?

I’m selling my Giant Cypress LE comfort bike for $200. It’s a custom build that was made especially for Bicycling’s BikeTown giveaway. I won it in 2005, but haven’t ridden it enough to justify keeping it around anymore. It’s in like new condition.

The bike features an upright mountain-bike riding position. Parts are perfect for the casual rider and commuter. It comes custom-equipped with a Shimano Nexus 7-speed drive train, which allows you to shift at a standstill. The linear-pull brakes have Power Control modulators for smooth, powerful braking. The suspension seatpost and long-travel (for a commuter bike) fork mean you’ll have no problem dropping off curbs or rolling smoothly over potholes. Finally, the puncture-resistant tires come pre-filled with Slime sealant for an extraordinary level of flat protection.

Frame: aluminum

Fork: SR Suntour Magnesium w/ 75mm travel

Size: 17 in. – perfect for someone about 5’3” to 5’8” tall

Cool Features: Alloy adjustable stem lets you fine-tune rider position; alloy suspension seatpost and gel saddle take the edge off bumps

Bike includes: toe clips, lights, whale horn, bar-end tassels

Bike does not include: rear rack or grocery bag panniers

MSRP: $380

If you’re interested, please send me an email with a number where I can contact you to make an appointment to see the bike and give it a spin.

Lest we forget

14-rider crash leaves bikes, helmets and cyclists strewn across track in Melbourne

I’ve seen some pretty amazing bike crashes, but this one takes the cake. Fortunately, it looks like no one was seriously hurt, which is not always the case.

Bring on the Banff Film Festival!

Hip-hip-hooray! The Banff Film Festival comes to Seattle for three nights starting tomorrow. Nick and I have been to Banff twice for the festival and love everything about it - especially the shared inner drive for adventure, testing personal limits, and doing things no one has ever tried before. The hairs on the back of my neck tingle just thinking about it. We can’t afford to go to Banff right now, the Canadian dollar being what it is. (Just kidding. It actually conflicts with school.) We can’t wait until we have the time/money to go again, though.

If you don’t have tickets to the local tour showing at the Mountaineers...um...too bad. It’s probably sold out. Put it on your calendar for next year, though. It is an excellent evening of fun. In the mean time, here’s a snippet of some of things you would have seen.

The Banff World Tour intro video (I just love the music):

“Weekend Warrior” (the best Banff Film Festival movie of all time). It was created in 2003 as part of the Filmmaker Showdown in Whistler in only 72 hours from start to finish.

Then there’s the amazing Ryan Leech doing a little trials riding in Prague:

“Shock and Awe 2” is the counter point to Ryan’s flawless riding. It’s probably a little more realistic of the real work that goes into this type of riding.

I don’t remember seeing the following videos at Banff, but they star some of the folks you’d see there. Introducing the notorious Timmy O’Neil in “The Guardian Angel”:

And my favorite of all, “Everyday Extreme.” This movie and “Sister Extreme” are the inspiration for my upcoming video production - “Extreme Snowshoeing.”

Diversion

If you have the impression that law students read a lot, you’re right. By a lot I mean at least six hours a day, not counting the time we spend in class re-reading what we’ve read to prepare for class.

Considering this, it’s a small wonder that I actually like to read much of anything for pleasure in my spare time, but I do. I don’t have much patience for epic novels at the moment, but the Internet provides endless entertainment in the form of short, mindless articles, perfect for a 10-minute study break.

Here’s a round up of some of my recent bike-related diversions:

Bike Snob NYC: As the tagline says, this Brooklyn cyclist is “systematically and mercilessly disassembling, flushing, greasing, and re-packing the cycling culture.” Some of the better posts recently include: BSNYC TV (programming suggestions for a proposed bike-centric TV channel – man I’d love to see these shows!); Infrequently Asked Questions (includes the Samuel L Jackson method of bottom bracket identification and advice on how to keep your awesome new bike in good working order); and The Indignity of Commuting by Bicycle (open letters to fixed gear riders, mountain bikes, SUV drivers and more). If you actually ride your bike and also happen to have a healthy distain for ridiculous fads, you’ll love this site.

Couch-Biking: The Banff Film Festival starts this coming weekend, which always makes me feel inadequate because I haven’t gotten off my bum to do some crazy, one-of-a-kind adventure and make a movie about it, even though I know I could do just as good a job as most of the crazies in these movies. Just when I was at my annual low in adventure-related self-worth, I read about two guys who created a human-powered bicycle and rode it through the Maritimes to poke fun at our sedentary lifestyle and exemplify the broad scope of human power. If this isn’t inspiration, I don’t know what is! Give yourself about a half hour to read their story, if you click over there. You won’t want to miss any of the sordid details of their wacky adventure. Then poke around in the projects section. I’m so ready to put an order in for a HulaBike!

Then there’s the requisite YouTube video. It actually has nothing to do with cycling, but it made me so happy to watch.

Last, but not least, is Adrian Hegyvary’s six-day tales. Adrian is Nick’s former cycling coach, turned pro racer. It’s kind of fun to read about the adventures of someone who is stringing together a cycling career. And by stringing, I mean literally “on a shoestring.” This is probably how almost everyone except the top fraction of a percent survives in the bike racing world.